The Rise of Destiny

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Destiny was hyped as the next Halo. It was literally called “Halo on Sony” across the internet. This isn’t much of a stretch for the pre-release given, that Bungie, the creators of Halo, also created Destiny. Many fans of the FPS genre figured that Destiny would, without a doubt, kill Halo. Sadly this didn’t happen.

What was released was far different than what was pitched. It lost so much revenue that they had to recoup losses the only way they could, by dicking over long time fans of the game and force them to re-buy the whole thing for Taken King.

I am going to be straight. I suck hardcore at FPS. I totally suck. When Destiny was released, the majority of problems “hardcore” gamer’s had with the game, I enjoyed immensely.

I liked that there was a degree of auto aim (since I can’t aim worth shit.)

Leveling was fast – and I mean bloody fast – like first day of play capped… FAST

I Loved Peter Dinklage as Ghost. Who knew a machine would sound like… a machine.

I ADORE the lack of chat. I just want to play. Yes I know I just died for the fifth time, no need to shout it.

I love the limited Fire-teams. I have two people on PSN who play anyway, so it works out that we can join each other and fart around trying to kill Vex or Fallen or fail miserably trying to take out Oryx.

What hindered the game, was Bungie itself. The company didn’t have faith in the product the creative team pitched. What we got because of the late rewrites is a sloppy story and superficial gameplay. They screwed their own game. When has late development rewrites EVER worked out? Rasputin is still in the game, but hardly, and Taken King has the glimmer of what could have been from the beginning, but a little late for many fans.

Despite all of the flaws in Destiny, and the problems it has with Matchmaking and Raids, I still find myself turning it on to play a few rounds. Even more so when the Husband is home from work and we want to play something together. It is faster and easier to play a round or two of Destiny than any other game in our Library.

Destiny is also by far the most gorgeous game I own on PS4. Yes it even out ranks Dragon Age Inqusition for level backdrops. The Cosmodrome is beautiful. I can ignore the simplistic battles when looking at the levels. Okay, so I like my games to be pretty.

Rise of Iron is going to be the last story update to Destiny. It is the strongest story, and also the shortest expansion to play through. There is more than just the story, as there is a new Challenge book to unlock, but I was rather let down by the extremely low amount of story progression. Even for me, a Casual, I beat the story in two days. Not surprised though, given Bungie’s history with the game. This expansion, although limited, is a great book end to the game.

I’m also rather irked that I can’t just use my exotic pre-order weapon, but have to unlock it from a hard to get item, an item I am more than likely never going to get.

The Plaguelands are a great twist on the Cosmodrome, and I have yet to test out to see if the original level of the Cosmodrome is affected by Rise. It would be amazing if it is (but not holding my breath.) It was fun playing through the opening level and seeing the changes.

If you are able to log on to the servers (which are overloaded right now due to the popularity of Rise) it is worth the time to play. Sometimes the Light recommendations should really say “minimum light,” but this is nothing new, although extremely frustrating.

I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Destiny, but I also feel a little burned out from being a fan of the game. I want to see more, but I am also weary of what the company will do in the future to screw fans over if Destiny 2 doesn’t live up to expectations.